Chris Oladokun‘s moment has finally come. In a terrible year for the Kansas City Chiefs, Gardner Minshew and Patrick Mahomes‘ injuries have left the 28-year-old as the only healthy option at quarterback for Andy Reid.
The 2022 seventh-round pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers finished the Week 16 loss against the Tennessee Titans at the helm of Kansas City’s offense, making quite a good impression in Nashville. In fact, Reid praised Oladokun’s performance as the Chiefs QB on Sunday and even regretted not giving him more practice reps during the week.
Standing at the postgame podium for the first time in his career after an official NFL game, Oladokun reflected on this long-awaited moment after years working around Reid and Mahomes in Kansas City.
“Being here for four years, you always walk through when your first moment’s going to be, and when you’re going to sort of get an opportunity. I’ve really just attacked these last four years like ‘you never know.’ And today just happened to be an opportunity for me, and I wanted to take full advantage of it,” Oladokun said, letting Reid know that he’d always been preparing for this opportunity.
Oladokun addresses his performance as the Chiefs QB vs. Titans
Oladokun did quite well on Sunday, especially when considering the circumstances. The Chiefs only signed the QB to the active roster on Saturday, waiting until a day before kickoff to finally promote him from the practice squad.
As Reid admitted, the Chiefs didn’t prepare him that much for a hypothetic appearance in Tennessee. Even so, Oladokun responded well in short notice, completing 11 of 16 passes for 111 yards. With no touchdowns or interceptions, he had a passer rating of 88.3. The only negative was the fact that he took four sacks, but that also falls on the offensive line.
Oladokun stepped up immediately after Minshew hurt his left knee, putting the Chiefs in field-goal range on each of his first four drives and successfully orchestrating a two-minute drill before halftime. Speaking to the press, Oladokun made it clear to Reid that he feels comfortable in those kinds of plays.
“I know our two-minute calls. I know what we’re looking to do, obviously, in that situation, just trying to get points out of it,” Oladokun said. “I feel like that’s when I’m playing my best. I’m just playing free, no huddle. We’re sort of just on the ball, and just let me go. Let me go rip it.”
Without Mahomes or Minshew, Oladokun gets his chance to be the Chiefs QB
It took time, patience, almost four years on the scout team and unfortunate injuries to Mahomes and Minshew, but Oladokun is finally getting his chance. With only two games left and no more playoff chances, he’s emerged as the Chiefs QB until further notice.
Since this will be a short week for Kansas City with the Week 17 game against the Denver Broncos scheduled for Christmas, Reid will probably allow Oladokun to lead the offense from the get-go on Thursday. It could be another audition as the Chiefs will need healthy quarterbacks to work with until Mahomes completes his long rehab, which could take up to nine months.